Camp Idea

 Over the past couple of years, I've come to note a number of young people (mostly college-age or in their early 30s)....jabbering about the great advantages of living a highly socialist world.  They usually mean Finland, Germany or Iceland.  

Their general problem, is that they've never been to these places, and they certainly don't have a frame of reference for what they are talking about.

Added to this....they'd like for the government to set income levels, pricing for housing, and see that that no company makes any profit.  In simple terms....no poor people, no rich people. 

So I'd like to put a suggestion out there....around age 15....to send kids off for the summer to 'Camp Soviet'.  It'd be a four-week experience where you get dumped into a 1970s Soviet-type kid's camp.  You give them the whole experience of communism and socialism, for four weeks.  

I suspect after that month-long experience....they'd get all of this out of their system, and never talk about this ever again.  

The Coyote Talk

 There are several topics which came over the Trump-Biden debate which seem to linger as folks talk about them.

The 'Coyotes' are one such topic.

Trump got into a border-type discussion, and talked about how 'Coyotes' are helping to bring the illegals over the border, and pro-migration folks (liberals) are drifting around on this....thinking Trump is crazy, and the term 'Coyotes' means actual animals.  

In their mind, you (the illegal) just walk up and cross the border on your own.

The reality?  In most all cases, as you near the border on the Mexican side....you have the Coyote-guides who you pay.....several hundred dollars to....to get you to the border and hopefully five to ten miles into the US....maybe even have a truck there to pick you and get you 300 miles away into the US (safely).

In the liberal mind, you (the illegal) do this all on your own.

It kinda demonstrates the lack of understanding on  their part.....with a key subject apparently, and the desire to just believe in some fantasy.  

On this part, Trump is correct.  

Newest Worry for Tesla Factory in Germany

 RBB (Berlin public TV) got around to an interesting update on the Tesla factory being put up about 45 minutes SE of Berlin.

The local water association.....Strausberg-Erkner Water Association (WSE)...started chatting this week over a fear that they will not be able to supply Tesla with water on a long-term basis.

Their direct thoughts?  Basically a two-year supply or reserve on hand, and then the water would be turned off.

True or not?  Unknown.  A lot of criticism has been generated in this area to hinder or halt the placement of this factory.  In terms of reacting and putting in more reserves or drilling for more wells?  Well....no one seems to say a word, and you kinda wonder if they are extremely set in a pattern, without change.

If the factory construction halts, and the whole thing goes away....to say....Czech?  You would basically mark off all of eastern Germany as unable to accept a factory or desiring to create jobs.  For almost thirty years.....this lack of job creation has been talked about greatly in what was old DDR (East Germany).  So along comes the first real company to talk technology type jobs, and then hindering the progress.

Added to this whole discussion.....this entire region (southeast of Berlin) is full of lakes and there appears to be an abundant watershed in the region.  If you have a shortage....get the state government involved.....drill wells, and lay out pipes to the WSE site.  

Or if this is all too much to handle....just say so, and let the factory go to Czech.  I'm sure they know how to handle situations like this.  

Wind Generators, Dead Birds, and Trump

 Trump laid out a comment at the debate which got pro-Biden people upset.  The comment?  It centered on wind generators producing dead birds, and one reason why they might not be the greatest answer in the world. 

So, around twenty years ago, I sat and watched a German documentary piece which was supposed to hype people on wind generators.  

The public TV crew arrived in early AM hours at a site (3 x generators).  Here was 'Marvin', the guy who was supposed to spend about 60 minutes at the site, and he had responsibility over a dozen sites.  

Marvin got out of the van, and opened the back to take out a plastic glove and a garbage bag.  The crew asked....what's that for?  Marvin walks over and picks up a dead bird and then explains....the birds hit the blades...killing themselves.  They kinda cut at that point, and go to Marvin at the control box....writing down numbers and inspecting things.  

How many birds did Marvin pick up? Unknown.  From the three generators.....there might have been a dozen birds laying there....to be picked up daily.  

I noticed about a month ago.....some crew had experimented and painted the blades black.  Just about all blades in Germany are white presently.  In this experiment, they discovered that birds see the black blades and avoid them.  You would have thought that they would have tested this color idea two decades ago.

This imaginary shock by pro-environmental folks with Trump?  Well....Trump is correct....the wind generators kills birds, period. 

Five States in the Game for 2020

1.  New Mexico.  Clinton won NM mostly in 2016 because of the Libertarian candidate (Johnson)....carrying 9.3-percent of the vote in the state.  Johnson won't be around in 2020, and I doubt if the libertarian candidate can get more than 3-percent of the vote.  

If you count those votes returning to Trump, then toss in police disenchanted folks (active and retired)....it probably will be a narrow race where 3k votes might separate Trump and Biden.  Toss in the factor as well....McMuffin....is also not in this race, so there's another 5k votes which you can't really identify who might get them.

My best guess is that Trump marginally will win because of this Libertarian situation.  Latinos for Trump here?  It might actually matter.  Probably a 3-point difference between Trump and Biden in this situation.

2.  Colorado.  Clinton won Col by 130k votes.  The Libertarian situation in 2016?  144k.  So I'm forecasting that fewer than 35k Libertarian votes will occur in 2020, and that 100k votes easily side with Trump on this election.  Again, you toss in the police de-fund situation, with active and retired folks....there's probably another 50k votes across the state which will side with Trump on this occasion.

My best guess is that Trump will marginally take Colorado....maybe by 50k to 80k votes.

3.  Minnesota.  McMuffin took 53k votes in 2016, and those votes have to go elsewhere in 2020.  Same story with the Libertarian effort in 2016 (112k vote).  Toss in the de-fund the police anger, police votes, and those affected by the looting and riots.  

My best guess is that Trump edges upward from his 2016 count (1.32-million) to around 1.5 million....more than enough to easily win the state.  It might be a six-point win for Trump here.  

4.  California.  McMuffin and Libertarians took around 510k votes in 2016.  I'd carve off 300k of these votes and give them to Trump in 2020.  I'd also be generous and say say that 500k votes for Hillary Clinton in 2016....will flip (mostly because of the riots, looting, negativity existing in SF).  Toss in a higher black/Latino vote as well for Trump.  

My best guess is that Trump will take near 6-million votes....way better than 2016, but not enough to win.  Joe Biden wins, but it's a shaky win in several areas (especially around LA).  Having Harris on the ballot in California probably doesn't help much. 

5.  Finally.....Michigan.  Trump marginally won in 2016.  If you toss out McMuffin, and half the Libertarian votes....toss in the defund-the-police chatter, looting and rioting.....added black votes this time around....there's probably an added 350k votes this time around to whatever Trump had four years ago.

My best guess is that Trump carries a 8-point lead over Joe Biden to the end.  Trump-win easily.

Observations

 1.  99-percent of people who take a item to be repaired.....know the 'deal'....you sign the bottom to return and pay for the services at the end, to get your property back.  So it's hard for the bulk of society to grasp how Hunter Biden turned over three laptops, and just simply 'walked-away'.  

My belief?  I think he was fairly doped up when he dropped them off, and forget all about them. 

2.  These 50 top VIP intelligence folks coming out for Joe Biden?

This is the basic story.  These 50-odd individuals were all part of the Clinton, Bush and Obama intelligence leadership.  They believe their statement in supporting will reshape the election.

The effect? I would suggest they converted zero votes.  This was more of a 'dog-and-pony' show, to give the networks some hyped-up chatter.  

3.  This court case being developed against Google, by the Justice Department...any big worries?

Google, in its heart and mind....believe even if it reaches an end-stage....it'll just be a fine of a half-billion dollars, and life will go on.

However, the intent here....to demonstrate to Facebook and Twitter....might be to force Google into dividing up it's business (like what happened to AT&T).  In that case, Google might be fairly unhappy about the results.

4.  All this censorship chatter by the Washington Post....aimed at Trump?

Basically, they wrote up an editorial piece and suggested that social media must censor Trump, from now until the election.....to correct his behavior.

People looking at this....might then ask....shouldn't the Washington Post just stop production of all election news....till the day after the election as well?  We might all agree....massive censorship for the entire last month....by EVERYONE....would be a brilliant idea.

5.  Russian 'disinformation'?

I know, it gets repeated almost fifty times a minute now, by various news groups.  None of them can explain how it's Russian, and not Chinese, or not of a French origin.  

6.  Boeing putting it's Seattle-area headquarters up for sale?

Well....it's a rumor that they've packaged the real estate and would like to sell.  The odds of anyone offering money?  I'd put it near 1-percent.  

The message here?  Things around Seattle aren't that appealing now, and for a commercial operation....that's a bad sign.

7.  Around two weeks ago....this big massive 'Trump' sign appeared in the Hollywood hills, and freaked folks out.

Yesterday, a 2nd Trump sign appeared.

8.  What happens to Hunter in the end?

This new piece with the underage girls video?  The Delaware Police have the video and are piecing the story together.  At the very least...one might suspect that Hunter will be detained in the next month, and have to stand for some court action.  If convicted....a minimum of a year out of this.  

At that point, I see Hunter at the end of the 'glory' period, and no real income after he gets out of jail.  Maybe he's still got 10-million dollars stashed away somewhere and just quietly lives out the rest of his life.  

The Revolutions That Never Get Told

 This is one of those historical essays that I occasionally write, and deals with a topic that is rarely discussed in German society or in German schools.  The subject....the revolutions of 1840s (note, I used the word plural here).

So to lay out the landscape that existed....Prussia was on the initial steps of unifying the country and still way off from a unified Prussia/Germany.

Most people will say that the revolutions basically started at a weekend fest held at Hambacher Castle (about forty km's SW of Mannheim).  All in one weekend?  This was a spring fest held in the local community around the castle....starting on 27 May, and ending 30 May 1832.  It's safe to say that a fair amount of alcohol was consumed and a lot of talk occurred by the locals and the guests in this period.

This area around the Hambacher Castle was fairly well known in the previous thirty years as a region where students and intellectuals gathered and 'chatted'.  It had been under some influence of the French before.  This group of 'radicals' ended up discussing in the weeks and months prior to the fest....freedoms.  

One of these discussions revolved around freedom of the press....to openly talk about corruption and ill-habits of the leadership.

Historians generally figure that around 30,000 people gathered for the fest, and it was more about expressing discontent....than partying up with booze.

When the fest ended....one could say that it left people with enthusiasm to voice discontent and frustration over where their governments (regionally) were going.

So all of this brewed....until the spring of 1848 (16 years later)....then all hell broke loose.

The regions affected?  Prussia, Austria, Saxony, Baden, the Pfalz, the Rhineland, and Bavaria. 

Historians generally figure that 400k revolutionaries were in the mix of things....opposed by the police and military authorities (figure a minimum of 40k altogether).

The general demand?  Social change, rights structure, improved work conditions, and voting rights (meaning the kingdom business would eventually dissolve). 

By the summer of 1849....roughly 15 months later....the various revolutions had been put down. The authorities would say they 'won'.  The leaders of the rebellion?  Well...curiously...most left Germany and resettled in the US (in the central region).  Yes, a lot of this German immigrant mix in 1849 and the next couple of years were the result of this rebellion effort and revolution.

This revolution stuff leading to a republic?  One could say that the path was laid out and Prussia was forever changed by this period of chaos.

Karl Marx's book Das Kapital coming twenty years after the revolutionary period?  This is another piece of the story, and Das Kapital probably laid out all of the wishes and desires to correct things....still left from the revolutionary period.

You can imagine this 1847 to 1848 period being very similar to the American 1770s era, and the disenchantment with the British leadership, taxes, and lack of reform.  

Being openly laid out and simple to understand?  No.  Because you have so many regions and separate parts to the story....historians generally make this a miserable experience to read through and understand.  I think it'd make a great historical mini-series, but telling the story would require at least a dozen evenings.  

So to the final part of this story....after the 1849 ending of the revolutions...a number of German/Prussian states sat down and in 1851....created various versions of the Secret Police.  Their whole purpose in life....stifle or limit political discontent.  This meant infiltrating various groups, knowing their path and plans, and countering them.

Yeah....this 1851 action did create the simple path were the Munich Secret Police would hire a young guy by the name of Hitler....to be a insider and spy to a new and progressing party (the Nazis).  It took seven decades, but it opened up a whole new dilemma to be handled.